St. Paul Hotel
The St. Paul Hotel (Hotel St. Paul) is located at 350 N. Market Street. It was built in 1910 and still exists today.
Known as “St. Paul’s Million-Dollar Hotel,” the building opened on April 18, 1910, with guests such as James J. Hill, businessman and early 3M investor Lucius P. Ordway, and John Ireland, archbishop of St. Paul.
Hotel St. Paul, 1915. Courtesy Minnesota Historical Society
In 1928 KSTP Radio began broadcasting live from the Gopher Grill. I the 1930s the show was called “Dancing in the Twin Cities.” These broadcasts lasted until the 1950s.
The hotel underwent extensive renovations in 1935.
November 10, 1935, Des Moines Register. Image courtesy Joe Haupt
In 1937 a young Lawrence Welk began playing in the hotel on Saturday nights.
In December 1938 the hotel engaged the black swing band El Herbert for a three-week stint, reported as “the first engagement of a colored band in any of the larger hotels in the Twin Cities in recent years” by the Minneapolis Spokesman.
In the 1950s and ’60s, the Dixieland music of Harry Blons was featured in the Gopher Grill.
Gopher Grill, 1957, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society
In 1963 the Gopher Grill and Bar Restaurant had nightly dancing and entertainment.
In 1979 the owners decided to give the hotel a facelift and sold off everything, from tables, chairs, televisions, mirrors, china, silverware and carpet. By 1982 the 254-room hotel had been redesigned and restored.